With Republicans back in the majority, John DeFrancisco replaces David Valesky as CNY's most powerful senator

Syracuse, NY - When the Democrats took control of the state Senate early last year, Sen. David Valesky became the third highest-ranking lawmaker in the upper house.

As the Senate’s vice president, his annual pot of grant money that legislators distribute to community groups grew from $255,000 to more than $4 million.

Those days, for Valesky and for the Democrats, appear over.

If all goes as expected – namely if Sen. Craig Johnson loses a court appeal over a recount in Long Island’s 7th District – the Republicans will regain a 32-30 majority in January.

That leaves Sen. John DeFrancisco, a Syracuse Republican who now serves as the minority’s ranking member on the Finance Committee, with a serious shot at leading the powerful committee.

“I’m hoping that I’ll be chair of the Senate Finance Committee,” DeFrancisco said Tuesday.

If DeFrancisco gets that post, he’ll be about as close as a lawmaker can be to state budget negotiations without being one of those three men who traditionally craft the spending plan behind closed doors.

The power swap and DeFrancisco’s potential new role comes in the midst of the state’s financial crisis.

Already lawmakers are bracing for a $9 billion deficit in next year’s budget. This year’s $135.3 billion budget, which began April 1, is short $315 million, according to the state Division of the Budget.

Despite the money woes, DeFrancisco said he believes the power change will put upstate communities, represented more often by Republicans, on more equal footing with New York City, home to 23 of the 32 Democratic senators in charge for the past two years.

“I think that will be again helpful to Upstate New York,” DeFrancisco said. “We will now have some regional balance.”

It still may be too early to tell exactly how effectively the GOP will use that balance to its advantage, especially with only a two-vote margin.

The power shift will also be critical as the state legislature redraws its districts next year. Traditionally, the Democratic-controlled Assembly draws lines that protect its majority, and the Republicans do the same to protect their control of the Senate.

Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, has promised to veto new maps that follow that old process, Horner said.

“The wild card is what does the governor do,” Horner said.

Both senators will see changes in their take-home pay.

DeFrancisco would get a $34,000 stipend as Finance chair, the same amount Valesky will lose from his current position as vice president pro tempore.

Valesky, who will start his fourth term in January, said losing that leadership position doesn’t worry him and shouldn’t worry his constituents.

“I’ve served for four years in the minority,” Valesky said in a phone interview from Albany. “If in fact I will be back in the minority, it’s less of a concern for me. The best product out of government comes when the two sides can work together as closely as possible.”

Yet budget worries persist, and no matter which party is in charge, the days of passing out millions of dollars to favored groups and local governments remain on hold.

This year, the Legislature dropped member items from the budget and froze spending on projects not yet started.

Still, Valesky’s quick infusion of $4 million in member items in his first year as Senate vice president shows that being with the majority party clearly has advantages.

When the GOP ruled the Senate, DeFrancisco passed out about $2 million in recent years per year in member item grants. Last year, as a member of the minority, DeFrancisco had only $250,000 at his disposal.

Legislators are free to grant the money to causes and groups they favor. With the power shift, some causes may benefit more; some may be left out in the cold.

During the Democrats’ rule, groups like the Syracuse Opera and Syracuse Symphony, that once got money from DeFrancisco, turned to Valesky instead.

Part of Valesky’s money went to new recipients like AIDS Community Resources, which got a $50,000 grant for a teen education task force. It was the first grant the organization had received from a state senator in at least 15 years, according to Jean Kessner, spokeswoman for the group.

DeFrancisco had his own favorites. When in the majority, he steered thousands toward Ophelia’s Place, a center in Liverpool dedicated to helping people with eating disorders. Most recently, a $44,000 grant helped build a café so the center can raise its own money, according to Executive Director Mary Ellen Clausen.

For now, nobody knows yet whether those member items will return, no matter what party is in charge.